Emphasis on the Individual: EC

In regards to my recent post on WWII propaganda in the Philippines I wanted to expand on my visual analysis' findings on emphasizing the individual.  There was not necessarily a strong emphasis on the individual in the last flyer in a straight forward, in the face type of way, but there was a notion that you are the one that should be experiencing it.  Propaganda is very effective when it places the viewer in the image or setting that they are trying to express.  It is a way to draw emotion and feeling from the viewer in hopes that the propaganda will get them to do what they want.  It is the same for advertising in a product except these products are branches of the military.  In one of the most iconic American images of all time, Uncle Sam, emphasis on YOU is very important.  Here you have on of the most American people you will ever see, white beard and hair representative of presidents of the old days and their powdered wigs while also showing age and wisdom.  Along with that are easy to see wrinkles and depressions in the face, again showing age and wisdom.  He loudly wears the colors of the United States of America with stars on his hat just to make sure you know we're talking about America here, not France or modern Russia (who also have red/white/blue flags).  His eyes are gazed directly at the viewer with a stern brow and a very aggressive point towards you.  The 2D image almost gets a feeling of 3D with the point being in the foreground.  It also gives the impression that Uncle Sam is directly in front of YOU speaking at YOU.  Then there is the famous line, "I WANT YOU.... for U.S. Army."  YOU is boldly expressed larger than the rest of the font and with reverse colors.  The other letters are black with a red outline, but here they are red with a black outline, making them stick out more than the rest.  YOU are the emphasis.  HE is talking to YOU.  Uncle Sam also has a very angry or disappointed look on his face as if you don't listen to him America will be very angry with you for not enlisting.  This type of propaganda directly effects the viewer as it places him in a setting where someone is directly talking or acting towards you, the viewer.  It is an effective way to advertise and a strong use for propaganda.  There are many other images like this for the military branches of America and I'm sure there are many others like this for other countries as well. 

Until next time.

The Fighting Filipinos: EC

I decided to blog about some propaganda that meant a little something to me.  So I chose an old propaganda ad from World War II based out of the Philippines.  As a half-Filipino, I do my best to learn and understand the Filipino culture.  The Philippines were definitely in a dire state during World War II when it was invaded by Japan.  The Japanese devastated the Filipino people, tortured them, killed them, and demolished their homeland during the war and of course, many Filipinos fought back.  Not only were Filipinos affected but many American prisoners of war were as well.  Japanese forces were plenty in the Philippine Islands which made the war very hard for the Filipinos, even when America stepped in to help, it was still going to be tough.  In the first ad, it shows a youthful Filipino man.  He has what appears to be a military uniform on, but seeing that most fighters were just citizens, it could just be a matching pair of clothes.  There are no insignias or patches on them that signify he is a part of the military.  He is most likely youthful to reach out to the many youthful men and women that had the ability to join and fight.  It is also easier to persuade the youth.  His uniform is beaten, ripped, and bloody to show that he has been fighting and he is hurting, but he will persevere for the country.  The Filipino flag is held high into the air by his hand, also beaten and torn but still waving.  Also, the Filipino flag can be waved in two ways.  When the country is at war the red side is up.  The blue side is up when they are at peace.  So obviously in this image the red side is up signifying the war against the Japanese. Smoke billows in the background which could represent a city or village that the Japanese probably burned.  The 'soldier' is holding a grenade in his hand as if he is ready to throw it which allows the viewer to imagine who he is throwing it at.  Most likely it is the Japanese but this gives the viewer freedom to believe what he wants.  This idea of freedom can also be seen as a selling point.  Given the freedom to imagine being this soldier throwing that grenade at the people ravaging your country gives a little bit of angst and desire to stand up and fight.  A youthful and energetic viewer may let his feelings get the best of him in a situation like this.  Then there is the slogan, 'The Fighting Filipinos,' with delightful alliteration to it as well as 'We will always fight for FREEDOM.'  Here is another strong point in the poster.  The word Freedom in all caps.  The Philippines may not have been completely overrun yet but this lets you know as a citizen that there are people coming in to YOUR country stealing YOUR freedom from you.  It is a pretty simple poster but it gives off a lot of spirit to the viewer, especially if they were a Filipino during this time.  It allows for the viewer to experience the situation it is showing and the idea of being the soldier displayed.  It evokes a lot of emotion and could easily provoke and persuade the people of the Philippines to stand up and help out.  As a Filipino-American, this poster speaks to me and my culture and I am thankful for the people that gave their lives so that I could be here today, free, and speaking my mind.

Architectural Anatomy with Zaha Hadid

International super star of architecture, better known as a 'starchitect,' but truly known as Zaha Hadid is under some serious flak as of late.  I believe it's due to the immaturity of the world and their relation of everything normal to a sexual state.  It seems nothing can be looked at these days without some sexual humor.  I'm in discussion about this in response to the criticism she has been receiving for her recent soccer stadium in the small Arabian state of Qatar.  The Al-Wakrah stadium was given to Zaha to design and propose has been a focal point all over social media and satirical shows such as 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (which I will discuss further).  Zaha used to be a very under the radar architect striving to find her own style that she could then share with the world.  It is common for architects to work for years of their lives until finally being recognized around the age of 50, which is what happened here.  Zaha was ambitious in her forms using white renders of the most curvy and obscure shapes.  They're something of an art form themselves.  Most are seen as conceptual forms and have struggled to make themselves present in our society in the past.  Recently, however, Zaha has found her place all over the world with her well recognized style.  She has become an icon to the architectural society and has even used her spare time to design shoes in the same shape she seems to repeat in her building design.  The stadium in Qatar uses the same formal gestures and swoops that she always has, except this one has a hole directly in the middle of it.  Not only is it agape to allow light to penetrate the soccer stadium and the field, but it just so happens to stretch out in a shape that most are calling 'labial.' Yes. Labial.  Representative of the female genitalia.  A vagina.  In this day and age something like this of course is going to get blown out of proportion and ridiculed by the people who hide behind their computers.  Which is a completely different discussion in itself; the internet and what it has become.  The voice of the many hidden behind their screens that will do anything to ridicule others through social media and other sites like buzzfeed.  Anyway, back to vagina buildings.  If any of the people who immediately bashed this building knew anything about the style and work of Zaha Hadid since the 1980s they would know that's just her style of work.  That doesn't mean she is trying to represent the female anatomy in her stadium.  She goes to say, "It's really embarrassing that they come up with nonsense like this. What are they saying? Everything with a hole in it is a vagina? That's ridiculous."  That was reported in the Times.  Now I can't lie and deny that it does share similarities, but she even explained to critics that she was basing the forms off of a local sailing ship called a 'dhow,' which is pictured below.  I have to say, she nailed the formal representation of the dhow in her form.  She just happened to place a gaping hole in the middle that shared similarities with a vagina.  Basically, I am arguing in defense for Zaha against the quick to ridicule minds of the world that is the internet.  Zaha had justification for her form, it is similar to the many works that she has always produced, and it is a style that represents a local figure of the culture.  Architecture is a strong part of visual culture and it is so easily ridiculed by people who will never even experience that building.  Nonetheless, internet has also become a huge part of visual culture, memes, video reviews, imgur.  Anyone, anywhere, can edit a photo to make it something else.  Television will also be a part of the visual world and television star Jon Stewart did his own critiquing of the Zaha stadium with an overlay of the British building 'the 30 St. Mary Axe,' or also known as 'The Gherkin,' (Also an analysis based on its form, which appears to be phallic), penetrating the stadiums opening.  Humorous, maybe, but that's what he does.  Anywho, I will say that I am not defending the building itself as it does not appeal to me, but I will defend Zaha and her architectural genius that has taken over an international setting.  Architecture will always be quick to criticize but at least have some intellect in your arguments.  

Zaha's Al-Wakrah Stadium

A dowh boat and it's sail.

Also, if you're interested in Jon Stewart's segment.  Here it is. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-19-2013/unnecessary-muffness

Clever title right.

Until next time.

Similar Topics vs Style

With one of my most recent posts being about Pawel Kuczynski, I wanted to focus on one piece in particular and relate it to an image that was posted on the Facebook Group wall near the beginning of the semester by Carli Holbrook.  Her image was a minimalist work that showed the differences between the luxury of having water and the necessity of having water. The image (pictured below) was of two kids swimming versus a lone woman waiting for water placed within an hourglass.  The hourglass is representative of how it is only a matter of time either before the luxury of water will no longer be a thing and necessity will be our only concer for water.  OR, it is a simple contrast on how first world versus third world nations use their water.  Luxury is placed over the necessity as to express hierarchy and political standing (1st world over 3rd world.)  The cool hues versus warm have a sense of feeling to them.  The blues being exciting and in a sense almost refreshing in contrast to the dryish orange/brown that makes my mouth dry.  Also it states directly, save water in the background.  That being said, Pawel shows many similar qualities in his own work.  He places a man (pictured below) in a pool or tub of water placed within a tree.  The feeling of hues is present in this image as well and he places 1st world over 3rd world to also express that hierarchy.  The man is smoking and drinking some kind of alcoholic beverage to further express his sense of luxury.  The boy below is more detailed, skinny, without shoes, and balding, probably from some form of malnutrition.  The boy waits patiently for just a drip of water from the tree while the man wades in enjoyment.  Both images focus mainly on the topic at hand in the foreground while leaving the backgrounds simplistic.  I think both artists tackled the topic well in expressing the value of water to the world.  The contrast between 1st world and 3rd world is expressed well through hierarchy and tone even in a minimalist nature.  Great work by both artists on a topic we should all consider.

Hexagons!

This isn't necessarily a post of any sort, I just wanted to touch up on my older post, The Transformative Grid.  Over the break I watched two movies, one being the new Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and the other being Cabin in the Woods.  In both movies the hexagon was very prominent in aesthetic features.  In the Hunger Games it shows itself in the dome of the arena, the forcefields that are present, and on their battle uniforms.  In Cabin in the Woods, there is also a forcefield present and it too is made up of hexagons.  This is just me ranting to further express my theory that hexagons are the grid of the future aesthetic.  Images below as evidence.

Cabin in the Woods Forcefield

Hunger Games Battle Uniform

Pawel Kuczynski

I stumbled across this guy randomly on this internet article:  http://sobadsogood.com/2013/11/19/art-designed-to-make-think-deeply-about-the-world-by-pawel-kuczynski/   I recommend taking a gander at it as Pawel Kuczynski may have just became one of my favorite satirical illustrators.  Not only does he do a very good job of instigating discussion in each piece but his illustrations are beautifully done and simple enough to understand for anyone's viewing pleasure.  He also touches on many, and I mean, many different topics all around the world.  He's covered many different situations and in many different forms.  War, hunger, politics, slavery, social media, water crisis, religion, medical issues, death, life, or just plain art.  The artist does a very good job of using very little elements in his work.  There may be two contrasting points simplified to two objects, it could be more relative to the works.  He also usually places the images on a subtle background with nothing to distract you from the topic at hand.  Most of the images from the internet article above are done in this way.  I will post a couple here and give a short analysis of each.  The first image is of a man waiting with the door open to a limousine.  Out of the limousine comes the red carpet that leads to the pigs at the feeding trough making a mess.  Now, this image can relate to multiple contexts.  It can be an image relative to the wealthy who can afford such eloquence and luxury and how they are greedy people.  Gluttony is also a topic at hand that relates well to greed.  If the option is viable to eat so much why not do it.  If that was the case it could be contrasting to world hunger in other places.  In another case it could represent politics.  The pigs would represent politicians who worry only about themselves while the rest of us waits on them to make up their mind.  The limo driver, who is doing his job, waits patiently for them to finish before his job can be deployed.  These are only instances that I could draw from the image but it is represented visually as a stimulant to our minds to bring those issues about to ourselves.  What is it that we see? Also, in relation to what I stated above about visual analysis, notice the minimal elements and background.  Pigs and Trough, Limo Driver and Limo, Red Carpet.  5 elements, but the curiosity that it stimulates is still present.  Another one I liked was the one at the bottom, which was  a man in a suit talking into a plethora of microphones atop a podium.  The wires of the mics eventually become a pipe and the pipe leaks out into a drain.  My guess is that the man is a politician based on his attire and the multiple mics represented.  Usually a man of that importance would have many news stations, radio stations, and other journalist branches wanting to hear him.  However, everything the man is saying is being fed through the wires into the pipe that leaks into the drain.  A reference towards the idea that politicians say a lot of things that are never fulfilled or are all just lies.  Waste is basically the main concept I get from it.  We waste a lot of time putting our hopes into politicians who never fulfill their promises.  Again, the image is laid over a simple background and foreground with few elements at play but the visual stimulus is still as strong.  Pawel does these things very well and there are many across the internet if you find yourself interested in more.  I will be blogging soon comparing one of his works to another work with a similar topic.  Until next time.

Transformative Grid: The Future

As an avid movie goer, science fiction nerd, video game player, and as an architect, I've been noticing a recurring use of the hexagon in relation to the future.  This post is going to be a different type of visual analysis that relates many different media mediums together to display the use of the hexagon in future situations.  The reason I've titled it transformative grid is because in most instances the hexagon is replacing the standard square grid.  It's as if in the future simple squares are no longer fitting and hexagons fix the more complex needs of the future.  Or it's some new style or phase in which conceptual artists are going through that uses the simplicity of the hexagon to achieve a more complex aesthetic.  When Modernism started to find its place in the world in art, architecture, and design, the square was a very easily manipulated and generative form.  Futuristic renditions must be avoiding the idea of reliving modernism and establishing a characteristic of its own.  I do not know however if it is something that people altogether are noticing or catching on to, if one saw that someone did something with it and decided to go with it, if its all the same person, or what.  But it is out there.  Keep your eyes open.  I'll dive into some examples that I've seen it take place in and then throw some images at you to let you see for yourself.  I'll start off with movies since they might be something you as a viewer might relate easier too.  I couldn't find an image of this, seeing that it was a specific moment in the movie, but in JJ Abrams' new Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness, the hexagon is prominent in the HUD (Heads Up Display) of the bridge's main screen and piloting window.  When the bridge screen first comes on live there are multiple hexagons that target and move throughout the screen.  There are also multiple instances of it used in the interior aesthetic.  There are small clips here and there that show lit up interior walls with a skeletal hexagon grid laid over it.  In the movie 'Tron Legacy,' and the video game, the grid is this new idea of a digital world that the main character's father has envisioned and created.  It is constantly referenced throughout the movie and you see hints of the actually rectangular grid with little points of light that represent intersections.  However, floor tiles, clothes, building form, and again, screens all have hexagonal patterns.  Even at the end of the movie when he holds his disk up in the air to transport him back to the regular world the pulses of digital light that surround him are hexagons.  While in the older 80's movie of Tron, the gateway and the grid were all made up of squares.  Pictured below is an image from the video game that shows the ground floor hexagon pattern.  In the video game Halo 4, the hexagon also became prominent in the HUD of the main character.  As you play the game the HUD uses hexagons to display information to the character, specifically when you are getting shot at or shot.  When hit, a red hexagon grid appears based on the direction you are getting shot from.  Also, from the outside of his helmet the glass has the patterning as well.  Pictured below is a poster for the game near its time of release. In another video game, 'Mass Effect,' the hexagon is primarily used as an aesthetic in armor.  It may be hard to notice in the image below but it's one of the only ones I could find.  Describing the many instances in pictures rather than actually experiencing it during gameplay or while watching a movie is hard.  By this time you may be getting the gist of my perplexed curiosity to why the hexagon has replaced the simple square or circle, and maybe it is a merger of the two, but I will wrap up my argument with a few more images and be speedy.  The new avengers/spiderman movies that released both used hexagonal facades on their design of the OSCORP tower, also pictured below.  And lastly, real world application of the hexagon, slightly skewed, but could've easily been squares or circles, can be seen in Nike Combat Armor.  Pictured below.  That is my rant on the overused hexagon aesthetic in future renditions of design and its application in real world uses.

Halo 4 Poster

Tron: Legacy

Mass Effect Suit

OSCORP Tower

Nike Combat Armor